About 68 billion won ($58.4 million) out of South Korea's defense contributions to the United States Forces Korea (USFK) over the six years from 2014 has been left unused, data from the defense ministry showed Monday. According to the data released by Rep. Jeon Hae-cheol of the ruling Democratic Party, USFK has not used 67.88 billion won out of Seoul's contributions made since 2014 toward shared defense costs. The amount of Korean defense contributions unused by the US reached 14.5 billion won

President Moon Jae-in reaffirmed South Korea's commitment Monday to closer cooperation with the international community in response to the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases. He was delivering a Facebook message on the occasion of World Korean Day. "COVID-19 has awakened (us) to the lesson that there shouldn't be a health care blind spot in any place of the globe," Moon wrote. The government will share South Korea's experience in the fight against the coronavirus and off

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday the budget model of its Galaxy S20 smartphone will go on sale in South Korea next week as the tech giant aims to boost its handset sales amid the pandemic. The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition (FE) will hit local shelves on Oct. 16 with a price tag of 899,800 won ($770), according to Samsung, the world's largest smartphone vendor. Pre-orders for the S20 FE opened Monday for local consumers, and they can receive the device starting Oct. 13. The S20 FE, which was un

South Korean superstar BTS set another new record on YouTube as its music video for the song "DNA" racked up 1.1 billion views on Monday. YouTube views for the music video of "DNA," released in September 2017, passed 1.1 billion views at 7:38 a.m., becoming the septet's first video to reach the milestone, according to Big Hit Entertainment. "DNA," the main track for the group's EP album "Love Yourself: Her," was the first song by a South Korean act to si

South Korea said Monday it plans to start its third round of free trade talks with Cambodia this week to outline details, in line with Seoul's efforts to diversify its export portfolio in Southeast Asia. The three-day virtual meetings, with a goal to come up with a finalized draft of the deal by the end of this year, will start Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two countries held their first round of negotiations in July, which was followed by another gather

North Korea's official newspaper on Monday ran an article on Iran's upgraded submarine-launched missile and other weapons systems amid speculation that Pyongyang could unveil its own "new strategic weapon" during a military parade to mark this week's key national anniversary. Quoting recent state media reports in Teheran, the Rodong Sinmun said that Iran succeeded in improving the range of Jask-II cruise missiles that can be launched from the Middle East country's homegrown Fateh subm

South Korea's manufacturing activity gathered ground for the fourth straight month in September but remained below par amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a global market researcher said Monday. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) of the country's manufacturing sector stood at 49.8 last month, up 1.3 points from the previous month, according to a survey by IHS Markit. Yet the September figure was below the 50-point mark that separates contraction from expansion. PMI is a

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and asked for understanding of the postponement of his planned trip to Seoul originally set for this week, the foreign ministry said. Pompeo called off his visit to Seoul as he cut short his East Asia trip after US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19 last week. "Secretary Pompeo explained that his visit to South Korea, planned for this week, has been delayed for the US si

Cold weather hit the nation Monday morning, with Seoul recording the lowest temperature of this fall and the season's first ice seen in Mount Seorak on the east coast. The Korea Meteorological Administration said that as of 5 a.m., the mercury dropped to 8.8 C in Seoul, 11.2 C in Incheon, and 8.6 C in Suwon. On average, temperatures nationwide dropped more than 7 C from a day earlier. In the mountainous Gangwon Province, the temperature fell to 5.4 C in Chuncheon and minus 1.7 on Mount Seorak,

North Korean state media launched a public relations campaign to promote what the country has achieved under leader Kim Jong-un, such as a remodeled factory and newly built houses, in an effort to rally public support ahead of this week's founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried a report touting the successful reopening of the Myohyangsan Medical Appliances Factory in the country's northwestern province of Jagang after it

South Korean carmakers' market share in the United States rose above pre-coronavirus levels in the March-August period, helped by new models, an industry association said Monday. Local carmakers accounted for 8.9 percent of the US passenger car market during the cited period, up from the 7.7 percent during the December-February period, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) said in a statement. South Korea reported its first confirmed coronavirus case on Jan. 20, with its tota

North Korea's official newspaper lauded leader Kim Jong-un for putting people ahead of anything else, calling for loyalty to his people-oriented leadership ahead of this week's founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. "The days and nights of the past nine years all boil down to the people," the Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary, referring to Kim's rule since late 2011. "The top priority and most important thing for our party is to safeguard the lives and homes of our

Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of K-pop superstars BTS, attracted a promising amount of deposits from retail investors on the first day of a two-day subscription for its initial public offering (IPO) next week, probably the biggest share sale on the local market. The IPO subscription runs Monday to Tuesday, prior to the company's listing on Oct. 15. Small investors deposited some 8.6 trillion won ($7.4 billion) on the first day of their subscription. IPO managers said Big Hit E

K-pop project boy band SuperM has landed at No. 2 on the Billboard's main albums chart with its first full-length album "Super One." The US-based publisher reported Sunday (local time) that the SuperM album reached second place on the Billboard 200, which ranks the most popular albums of the week in the US based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. SuperM's album sales reached 104,000 equivalent album units, including 101,000 from traditional album sal

'패션의 나라' 프랑스에서 처음으로 성공을 거둔 일본 출신 디자이너 다카다 겐조(高田賢三)가 4일(현지시간) 세상을 떠났다. 겐조의 대변인은 그가 이날 프랑스 파리 인근 뇌이쉬르센의 한 병원에서 숨을 거뒀다고 AFP 통신, 주간지 르푸앙 등이 전했다. 향년 81세. 1939년 일본 효고(兵庫)현 히메지(姬路)에서 7남매 중 다섯째로 태어난 겐조는 어렸을 때부터 패션에 관심이 많았다고 한다. 애초 고베대학교에 진학했으나 곧 관두고 분카패션대학에서 진짜 원하는 공부를 시작했다. 졸업하자마자 프랑스 마르세유로 향하는 배에 몸을 실은 그는 1964년 파리에 당도했다. 처음부터 그가 성공 가도를 걸은 것은 아니었다. 프랑스 브랜드 레노마에서 보조 스타일리스트로 취직한 그는 1970년 자신의 첫 번째 매장 문을 열었다. 그때 그의 나이는 서른이었다. 일본식 문화와 서양식 문화를 접목한 겐조의 손에서 태어난 작품들은 파리지앵의 마음속으로 파고들었고 1976년에는 자신의 이름을 딴 브랜드

Three dozen soldiers and officers at an Army unit in the northern city of Pocheon have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Monday. Three of them were first confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 on Sunday before all other members of the unit went through virus tests and 33 of them tested positive, according to the ministry. The military and health authorities are tracing their routes of infection, and the exact cause has yet to be identified. But one infected of

SEJONG -- South Korea's big conglomerates have reported sales of some 12 trillion won ($10.3 billion) from collusion and price-fixing practices over the past six years, a report showed Monday. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) found that 21 business conglomerates colluded a total of 162 times between 2015 and August this year. The conglomerates reported sales of 11.7 trillion won from collusion during the period, the KFTC said in the parliamentary audit report. The KFTC fined them 654

South Korean carmakers are set to launch aggressive promotions to boost sales with new vehicles in the fourth quarter to offset weak sales in the previous three quarters amid the coronavirus outbreak, industry sources said Monday. The country's five carmakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- reported an 18 percent on-year decline in sales to 4.2 million vehicles during the January-August period. Their domestic sales

Dividend income earned by South Koreans under the age of 18 has more than doubled over the past four years amid a trend of early gifts among rich people, government data showed Monday. Underage shareholders in the country posted a combined dividend income of around 265 billion won ($227 million) in 2018, up 115 percent from 2014, according to the data from the National Tax Service. A total of 182,281 underage people received dividends in 2018, a 10.1 percent increase from four years earlier.

South Korean shares opened a tad higher Monday, led by gains in automakers, after a long holiday. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.95 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,333.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment was boosted by hopes for fresh economic stimulus in the United States. Most large caps traded lower in Seoul. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.17 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shedding 0.6 percent. Hyundai Motor, the country's